LVEDC studies area Hispanics

Economic group wants data so it can see how it can help.

May 01, 2004|By Jeanne Bonner Of The Morning Call

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. is conducting a study of Hispanic residents to better understand their economic needs and desires.

LVEDC officials hope the demographic and statistical information gathered by the study will help the organization understand how it can help Hispanic residents take advantage of the Valley's economic opportunities.

"This really goes to our need for a better understanding of the Latino community," LVEDC President Ray Suhocki said. "I would like to see the Latino community have full economic opportunity."

Some of the Valley's Hispanic leaders seemed caught off-guard by LVEDC's announcement but were supportive of the study.

LVEDC has been talking about doing the study for a year and a half, Suhocki said. Newly-elected LVEDC Chairman John Englesson wants the organization to reach out beyond its traditional base. He said if the Hispanic study is successful, a study of the Valley's black community might be next on the agenda.

"LVEDC has been pretty male and very white and we are aging," Englesson said. "I think we need to be very inclusive."

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States and in the Lehigh Valley. The group comprises 10 percent of Lehigh County's population, 7 percent of Northampton County's population and 22 percent of the urban population of the Valley. Hispanics, however, own only about 700 businesses out of the Valley's 14,000 companies.

The agency has hired Lillian Escobar-Haskins of Alegre Research and Demographics in Lancaster, a specialist in Hispanic-focused research, to do the study. Escobar-Haskins, who began working on the study about six weeks ago, is expected to deliver her results in about a year. Alegre Research has conducted studies on the Hispanic communities in Reading and Erie, among other places.

Suhocki said LVEDC hopes to get input for the study from a variety of Hispanic organizations, leaders and businesses.

One group is the the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley, which formed last year. David Vaida, a founding member of the Chamber, said Friday he heard about the study "through the grapevine." Vaida said the Chamber had thought about doing a similar study but the idea was shelved because the new group has more pressing concerns. Since its launch in October, the Hispanic Chamber has signed up nearly 100 dues-paying members.

"This is something the [Hispanic] Chamber could do, but given the fact LVEDC is going to do the study, we want to be involved because we are the people being studied, after all," said Vaida, an Allentown attorney.

Easton businessman Lazaro Fuentes, who founded the Hispanic Chamber with Vaida, said it's critical the study be objective. He said the growing power of the Hispanic community can be seen as a threat to some.

"Any time you see a rise in one group, there are some people who see their own power diminishing," Fuentes said. "We are cautiously optimistic we are going to be very involved with LVEDC [for the study]."

Fuentes said Hispanic residents are concerned about a variety of issues in the Lehigh Valley, including employment, education and policing.

"We are concerned about the discussion of cutting the police force, we are concerned about the hollowing out of our urban centers, we are concerned about the lack of participation we have on school boards," Fuentes said. "We need to have a voice."

Fuentes said the state of the area's urban centers is another concern to Hispanic residents because Latino immigrants are opening many of the new businesses in the Valley's downtowns. Some of these new business owners need help making business plans and understanding profit-and-loss statements, and it helps if those services can be offered in Spanish, said Erlinda Agron, a codes coordination specialist with Allentown.

"People are more comfortable learning information in their own languages and then they can learn it in English," said Agron, who is on the board of the Hispanic Chamber.

Both Vaida and Fuentes hope the study will confirm statistics that are pertinent to the Hispanic community. For example, official statistics put the number of Hispanics in the Lehigh Valley at 45,000, but Fuentes thinks there are more like 70,000.

Vaida said he hopes the study will quantify Hispanics' buying power and identify where the residents are spending their money.